Swine Production

1
Swine Production Management
Working Safely With Hogs
2

Working Safely With Hogs
3
Handling Swine

• Understand behavioral characteristics of pigs for
  easy handling
• Pigs angle vision is gt300 degrees
• able to see behind them without turning their
  heads
• Pigs are sensitive to sharp contrasts in light
  and dark
• Pigs will balk or be reluctant to move if
• encounter shades
• puddles
• bright spots
• change in flooring type or texture
• metal grates
• flapping objects

4
Moving Hogs

• Loading from inside a building
• Line hogs single file or in pairs before going
  outside
• Lights inside a building or truck will attracts
  them
• tendency to move from a darker to a bright area
• Pigs stops at solid barriers placed in front of
  them
• Use a small portable panel to efficiently move
  and sort them
• wood, plastic or light aluminum
• block the hogs view
• prevents hogs from going in to the wrong
  direction
• Sorting panels should be the same wide of the
  alley or shute (minus an inch) and 36-42 inches
  high

5
Moving Hogs

• Alleys should have solid sides and gradual
  corners
• open sides distract hogs
• blind corners confuse them
• Loading shutes are usually wide enough for one
  hog
• work better if they are wider for two hogs to
  walk side by side
• Squeeze pen located between the alley and the
  shute or truck makes loading easier
• should hold 10 to 20 hogs
• circular design is preferred

6
Herdsmanship

• Know where to tap a hog to direct its motion
• Moving the hog forward
• tap him with your hand on top of its back
• just in front of its tail
• use a firm tap, but dont hit the pig - a love
  tap
• To turn the hog direction
• tap should be placed just behind the hogs ear
• to turn left
• tap behind the hogs right ear
• to turn right
• tap behind the hogs left ear
• Hollering is very useful
• not screaming, not cursinghollering
• hey or whew
• hogs dont like it when humans holler

7
Hazards in Animal Housing

• Air Pollutants in Animal Housing
• Dust and Other Aerosols
• Ammonia
• Hydrogen Sulfide
• Other Gases
• Odors
• Air Quality Control and Management
• Mechanical Hazards
• Electrical Hazards
• Noise
• Fire
• Children in Buildings
• Safety Signs

8
Ammonia ( NH3 )

• Ammonia is produced by bacterial action on urine
  and feces during decomposition
• Comes off of the floors and from the manure pits
• Levels in animal buildings can be sufficiently
  high to affect human health
• Ammonia control
• Frequent removal of waste
• Management of indoor moisture
• Adequate ventilation
• ventilation dilutes ammonia concentration and
  tends to dry floors and litter
• reduces the rate of ammonia release

9
Hydrogen Sulfide ( HS )

• Is an acutely toxic gas produced by the
  decomposition of animal manure
• Often released into the air when liquid manure is
  agitated
• Its odor is not an indication of its
  concentration
• Above 6 ppm the odor increases as concentration
  also increases
• The OSHA limits exposure to 10 ppm for an 8 hour,
  5 day exposure
• At levels above 50 ppm human evacuation is
  recommended
• Levels increase to 1500 ppm when swine pit manure
  is agitated
• Levels above 500 ppm cause unconsciousness and
  death

10
Hydrogen Sulfide ( HS )(continued)

• Workers should wear a self contained respirator
  if exposure to HS is expected
• Hazards created during manure agitation can be
  controlled by
• Providing ventilation during manure pumping
• Removing the manure
• Preferable when
• people and animals are absent from the building

11
Other Gases

• Methane ( CH4 )
• A natural product of manure decomposition
• nontoxic
• High concentrations produces
• dizziness and even asphyxiation
• Flammability of methane Main Safety Concern
• CH4 can be explosive at concentrations over
  50,000 ppm
• valuable as an energy source
• NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety
  and Health) recommended Daily exposure
• 1,000 ppm per 8 hour work period
• Control
• proper ventilation generally dissipates methane
  from animal housings

12

• Carbon Dioxide ( CO2 )
• Produced by manure decomposition and animal
  respiration
• nontoxic gas
• High concentrations can cause
• asphyxiation by reducing available oxygen
• Concentrations in well ventilated buildings can
  range
• 1,000 ppm during summer
• 10,000 ppm during winter
• OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health
  Administration) permissible exposure level for
  CO2
• 10,000 and 30,000 ppm respectively per 8 hour
  and 15 minutes work period
• Control
• proper ventilation
• CO2 control is important in cold climates

13

• Carbon Monoxide ( CO )
• Product of the incomplete combustion of
  hydrocarbons
• its colorless, odorless, and has nearly the same
  density as air
• CO hazards in animal production operations caused
  by
• combustion heaters malfunction
• operational heaters or internal combustion
  engines
• without venting the combustion products outdoors
• Winter Most dangerous period
• buildings are usually closed and ventilation
  rates are at its lowest
• OSHA and NIOSH recommended threshold limit values
• 40mg/m3 or 35 ppm for an 8 hour work period
• Control
• combustion heaters and engines should always be
  vented to the outside

14
Mechanical Hazards

• Fans
• unguarded fans are dangerous, must have guards or
  screens so people cannot touch any moving parts
• Winches
• workers operating winches must be careful to
  avoid releasing the winch before the object is
  fully raised or lowered
• accidentally striking a winch under tension can
  cause it to release
• Augers
• must be properly guarded
• before any maintenance the equipment must be
  unplugged, or switch off at the control and
  breaker box
• Steel Cables
• worn or frayed could produce gashes and puncture
  wounds on hands
• wear a sturdy pair of work gloves to prevent
  these wounds
• Housing Floors
• can be slippery and obstructed by equipment and
  railings
• use a good pair of work boots to prevent falls
  and foot injuries

15
Electrical Hazards

• Due to faulty electrical wiring
• Risk of shock
• Potential for fire
• Destruction of good equipment
• motors and pumps
• Use wiring practices that protects electrical
  cable and system components
• from abuse by livestock and rodents
• avoid exposure to tractors and feeding equipment
• Appropriate design and reliable installation of
  electrical systems are crucial to

16
Noise

• Sound levels are measured in decibels (dB)
• Soft whisper is about 30 dB while a 120 dB will
  cause pain
• OSHA limits noise exposure to 90 dB over an 8
  hour shift
• Tractors and other farm machinery cause the most
  noise
• in livestock housing - animals and machinery
  produce significant noise
• swine buildings - at feeding time 115 dB can be
  reached

17
Fire

• Factors that facilitate fire in livestock
  buildings
• Improper storage of combustibles, unsafe
  electrical wiring and lightning
• Reduce fire incidents
• Construct building with fire retardant materials
• Combustibles - discard from building those not
  frequently used
• stored frequently used in a fire retardant
  compartment
• Use wiring material and equipment meeting the
  requirements of the National Electric Code
• All electrical equipment (fuses, junctions, and
  outlet boxes) should be kept free of grease and
  dust
• Place 10 lb ABC type fire extinguishers in all
  major buildings near exits

18
Children in Buildings

• Animal production facilities are attractive
  playground to children
• Because of their complexity and potential for
  danger
• no one should treat animal production facilities
  as play areas
• lack of experience
• makes children vulnerable to injuries in
  agricultural environments
• young children visiting these facilities
• should be supervised by trained production
  personnel
• older children should be allowed to work in these
  environments
• providing adequate training and with parental
  supervision

19
Safety SignsClassified according to the use
hazards and risk involved
The categories of hazard are Toxicity /
Poison Explosive Potential Flammability
Corrosive The categories of risks are
Danger Warning Caution
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Personal Protective Equipment

• Head Protection
• Eye Safety
• Respiratory Protection
• Hearing Protection
• Hand Protection
• Body Coverings
• Foot Protection
• First Aid

21

• Head Protection Hard hats
• Eye Safety Safety glasses, goggles, face
  shields
• when handling or applying pesticides
• Hearing Protection Earmuffs and Ear plugs
• from noise produced from farm machinery and hogs

22

• Sound - measured in decibels (dB) 85 dB is the
  loudest sound workers should be exposed to for 8
  hours or more.
• Examples Normal conversation 60 dB
• John Deer Tractor 8560 tractor 76 dB
• Massey Ferguson 750 combine 90 dB
• Swine confinement at feeding 133 dB
• Wear protective equipment
• disposable foam or reusable rubber earplugs
• hearing protector earmuffs

23

• Respiratory Protection Masks and Respirators
• From dust and chaff
• Toxic gases and chemicals
• Welding fumes and low oxygen atmospheres
• Silos and animal confinements
• large livestock waste and manure dust

24

• Body Covering Aprons (leather and rubber),
  chemical resistant coveralls and chainsaw safety
  chaps
• leather aprons used when welding
• protects from burns from splattering molten
  metals and slag
• rubber aprons needed when handling liquids or
  concentrated chemicals
• protects the groin area from chemical splashes
• this area absorbs chemical 10x faster than
  through the forearm
• chemical resistant coveralls excellent
  protection from pesticide dusts and mists

25

• Foot Protection Steel toe safety shoes and boots
  (rubber or leather) with puncture resistant soles
• from sharp objects
• dropped heavy objects
• heavy livestock stepping on your feet
• chemical hazards (steel toe safety rubber boots)
• First Aid (FA) all vehicles and buildings
  should have a first aid kit
• get appropriate first aid training
• in your FA kit include emergency numbers
• check FA kit content every three months
• label all FA kits
• include flares and flash light in your FA kit
• emergency signals -extra help